1) What have been the benefits for you of social networking (blog, twitter, facebook, etc...)
For me the biggest benefit has simply been the opportunity to meet people I would have never had the opportunity to meet otherwise...including Fellow Traveler, whom I'd met through other online acquaintances whom I'd met on a Yahoo group. Imagine that. And more recently, since getting involved with Facebook, I've had the pleasure of reconnecting with a couple of high school friends I'm really glad I've had the opportunity to find again; I enjoyed their company back then, and I enjoy their "seasoned" presence in my life even more now.
2) Which medium do you use the most? Or if you use them all, for what do you use each of them?
These days I'm on Facebook more than anything. (Which in part accounts for the paucity of my postings here, sadly.) I love the little snapshots of other people's days. When I'm not Facebooking, I'm usually focused on our church blog -- we have a readership now, and a thematic schedule, and I need to keep that up on a daily basis.
3) If you could invent a networking site (with no limits on your imagination), what would it provide? What would it not provide?
I think my head would explode if I had to deal with another networking site, so I'm not even going to answer that. I have a hard enough time even with Twitter -- and, really, my life is not nearly exciting enough to "tweet" -- which I subscribe to but don't do anything with. (And the really scary thing is...despite this, I get regular notifications of Twitterers "following" me...following me where, I wonder.)
4) Who have you met that you would not have met if it were not for the 'miracle' of social networking?
Once again -- Fellow Traveler, first and foremost; most of the RevGals and Pals; my Brit and Antipodal friends on the Ship of Fools community forums; and many other bloggers whose work I admire and enjoy.
5) Whom do you secretly pray does not one day try to 'friend/follow' you?
The only people I really do not want to be a part of my online life in any way are my former boss and Big Boss. I still experience frissons of terror if I think I see one of their vehicles in a local parking lot -- one day I delayed grocery shopping at the Outer Podunk supermarket for a full half-hour waiting for Big Boss' pickup to leave, that is how much I do not want to encounter either of them ever again.
BONUS: What was the most random/weird/unsettling/wonderful connection you made that would not have happened if it were not for the ease of which we can find each other in the computer realm?
One of my Facebook friends is a Swede, Anders, who asked me to friend him after seeing me on the Lutherans Concerned/North America "fan" list. Anders is an organist and belongs to the Church of Sweden, and he FBs a lot -- he has, like, 900 friends -- and he writes mostly in Swedish, which means that his posts are a mystery to me unless I take the time to run them through a translator, or unless they're churchy posts where I can pick out the operative words. I enjoy my Facebook page hosting random thoughts in Swedish; what can I say?
8 comments:
It's very fun that you have a Swedish friend!
And yes, I agree about past bosses. I didn't even think of that, but now the idea is making me squirm!
Thank you for this. I too have been wandering away from blogging - which I love - and I wonder if FB is to blame. Twitter is something else all together. 'I'm in my office and so hungry.' seems like a weird thing to keep folks updated on!
Great answers. Thank you for playing!
A roommate from seminary days was a grad student in Int'l relations. When I first found her on fb she was in Dublin, and traveled tons in Europe. Now she's in Geneva, still traveling! It's fun to see her post from all over, and to see the diversity of ethnic names among those who post to her, and sometimes in other languages. Like your Swedish friend, it connects to another world to which I would have no exposure otherwise.
Rest well after your trip!
I'm glad I met you through blogspot. Funny, isn't it? I like the networking aspect of the 'net, but it took me quite awhile to understand it. I used to meet people through yahoo groups, but those have not been as popular anymore either. I do all this stuff through slow internet. :-( I'm not interested in Tweeting. My DH thinks that anybody who does this stuff is an exhibitionist, but I don't agree, I just think that some people need to share their thoughts with like others. DH has never looked at my 3 blogs.
I met K. through the Ship of Fools. Like FT, she's the best reason for my time spent on online networking!
I used to tell about going from church to have lunch/dinner with people I met online. My church friends sometimes looked at me as if they were considering tying me up for my own safety. Ever had that reaction?
Oh, yes. I think my sister-in-law initially thought I was some sort of online serial killer.
How wonderful to have a friend in Sweden! I am loving these meet-up stories with RevGals today on FF.
I have to say that was the nice thing about moving to get married: I no longer have to worry about running into former bosses who are now a part of my former denomination.
I follow a few people on Twitter who speak (type?) different languages. I feel so cosmopolitan when a tweet comes up in another language. I don't care if I can read it. :)
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